Justice, Not Ritual

8And the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,

9Thus says Yahweh of hosts, saying: Render true judgments, and show steadfast love and compassion, each man to his brother.

10Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.

11But they refused to pay attention, turned a stubborn shoulder, and made their ears heavy so as not to hear.

12They made their hearts like diamond-hard stone, so as not to hear the law and the words that Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. So great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.

13And just as he called and they would not listen, so they will call and I will not listen, says Yahweh of Armies.

14And I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one passing through or returning; thus they made the pleasant land a desolation.